Horseshoe Bend and Lake Powell

On our last day we went home by way of Lake Powell and met Mike there who took his boat. We stopped for a "short" hike to Horseshoe Bend, which is just outside of Page, Arizona. Yes, it is as hot as it looks. I think it was 105 degrees that day.

The kids complained a lot on the way there. Both of them thought they were going to melt. (I thought the same thing!) But, we tried to teach them the lesson that good things come after hard work and perseverance. There would be a pay-off for all they were doing to get there.

Sophia was a good sport... she got carried, of course. We plastered her fair little head and body with sunscreen... we still couldn't get her to keep her hat on.

Isn't it cool? I think so.  I thought it was amazing... the kids were underwhelmed. Coleman said, "That wasn't really worth it." Bah!

Olivia kept pausing on the way back and acting like she was going to die. My patience was running thin... but we finally made it back to our (hot) car.

The best part of Page was finding Sonic for some cool drinks!

When we got to Lake Powell we met up with Mike.  Ryan, Liv, and Coleman went for a boat ride with Lindsey and her boys. Coleman did some tubing...

...and he  even got to drive the boat. They all went for a swim in the lake and had fun!

While they were out on the boat Sophia and I went to the "swim beach" a ways down the shore. It was so hot... we couldn't stay on the towel or play in the sand... and going in the water (also hot!) was a joke. There were prickly things and floating things and rocks that hurt our feet, so we lasted there for only a short while. I tried to call Ryan and got this message when I tried to turn on my phone:

The only thing it would let me do is call 911 to ask for assistance! I'm no dummy... it didn't take long for me to come to the conclusion that if it was too hot for my phone to work, it was too hot for a one year old and her mama to sit out in the sun. We promptly high-tailed it to the car and sat with the air conditioner on full blast until Ryan and the kids were done.

Overall it was a fun and exhausting trip... I'm not sure if you can call five days, four national parks (and recreation area), and 1,000 miles in the car a vacation, but we did have good times and saw lots and lots of beautiful sites. We especially loved being together and being with our extended family!